First Steps into the Spirit Ascension Platform, an Unexpected Helping Hand

The elevator continued descending, the slight sensation of weightlessness brushing over Xiao Cheng's heart like a feather, reminding him that they were entering the belly of this steel behemoth.

"Ding—"

The metal soul-guided elevator doors slid open soundlessly, and the sight outside suddenly opened up. Before them was an immensely spacious underground hall. The ceiling soared high overhead, cast entirely from an unknown luminous metal that emitted a soft, cold white glow.

The hall was orderly. More than a dozen staff members in Spirit Pagoda uniforms worked busily at their respective stations, while streams of data poured down the holographic screens like waterfalls. At the rear of the hall were special metal passageways extending deep inside like blood vessels.

The moment the staff saw Xiao Ran, every one of them immediately stopped working and bowed respectfully. Xiao Ran merely nodded slightly and waved a hand before leading Xiao Cheng straight toward the central passageway.

After proceeding through the passage for several dozen meters, they came upon another elevator door. This descent was brief, lasting only a dozen seconds or so, but Xiao Cheng could feel that even the air here had become denser, carrying a peculiar energy fluctuation.

The elevator doors opened again, and they found themselves in a circular metal room. A ring of enormous soul-guided screens hung on the walls around them. What flickered across them was no longer data, but moving scenes—lush primeval forests, mountains piercing the clouds, shimmering deep seas... The images were so realistic that they felt as though they were truly there.

"Cheng'er, watch carefully." Xiao Ran's voice broke the room's silence. Pointing at the screens, he spoke solemnly. "The Spirit Ascension Platform is a miracle created by our Spirit Pagoda with the accumulation of thousands of years and resources that are nearly impossible to calculate. In a sense, it is an independent world, half virtual and half real. Spatial technology, spiritual interference, energy projection... countless cutting-edge technologies have been fused here."

He turned, his gaze burning as he looked at his son. "I want you to remember this. Although the Junior Spirit Ascension Platform is the relatively safe virtual section, that does not mean it is a game. Your five senses, pain, and neural feedback will all be synchronized at an extremely high degree. If you suffer an impact beyond your endurance threshold and your spirit is injured, the consequences will be unimaginable. So—"

Xiao Ran raised a finger and pointed to Xiao Cheng's hand, where a distress signal device would appear shortly. "The moment something feels wrong, press it immediately and withdraw. Understand?"

"I understand, Dad." Xiao Cheng nodded firmly, his little face full of seriousness. He was not one of those sheltered native children. He knew very well that in certain circumstances, a "virtual world" could be even deadlier than reality. This was not a VR game where he could reload after dying.

A staff member stepped forward and operated the control console. One wall slid open soundlessly, revealing rows of horizontal metal compartments. Their shape and size really did resemble... coffins.

Following the instructions, Xiao Cheng lay down inside one of the recesses. The icy touch of the metal sharpened his mind. Then soft suction cups extended from every direction and attached themselves to his temples, chest, and limb joints, cold and snug.

"Young master, we are about to begin. Relax your entire body. There may be a slight tingling sensation during the scan. Just bear with it," the staff member's voice said.

The metal compartment door slowly closed, and his vision fell into absolute darkness.

The next instant, Xiao Cheng felt countless tiny electric currents surge through every part of his body at once. It was like innumerable ants gnawing at his marrow, or like being thrown into an electrostatic generator. Stimulated by this external force, the Soul Power and blood vitality within him began to boil and churn uncontrollably. The numbness grew stronger and stronger, making him feel drowsy.

This little discomfort was nothing to Xiao Cheng after half a year of intense training. He even felt like yawning. When he had been hunted by powerful enemies in his previous life and suffered grave injuries, it had been far worse than this.

He did not know how long passed. Perhaps an instant, perhaps an eternity.

"Buzz!"

His body jolted violently, as if he had passed through an invisible film of water. Xiao Cheng woke from his half-drowsy state as the darkness before him faded, replaced by bright, vibrant light.

He stood on unfamiliar ground.

Towering ancient trees surrounded him, their thick trunks requiring several people to wrap their arms around them. Their dense branches and leaves fragmented the sky overhead. Beneath his feet lay thick humus, soft and damp when stepped on. The air was filled with the scents of earth, vegetation, and an indescribable wildness. Insects chirped and birds called one after another, while distant beast roars faintly echoed.

Looking down, he saw that there was indeed a metal device on the back of his hand, with a bright red button that stood out sharply.

"So this is... inside the Spirit Ascension Platform?" Xiao Cheng took a deep breath. The rich, almost tangible aura of life filled his nostrils, causing the Soul Power in his dantian to circulate faster on its own, even more smoothly than during his usual cultivation.

"Can't let my guard down." He shook his head and cleared away stray thoughts. This was not a safe zone. If he was careless here, he could lose his life and be sent out of the Spirit Ascension Platform. He still wanted to kill more Soul Beasts to increase Lueqing's age.

Lueqing was the name Xiao Cheng had given to his Azure Sky Snake Soul Spirit, taken from the swift posture of a green snake darting past on the wind.

"Hah!"

With a low shout, azure light flashed. The Azure Sky Snake Martial Soul instantly transformed into a weapon, becoming a twelve-foot divine spear in his hand. A yellow hundred-year Soul Ring spiraled up around the spear shaft, glowing faintly.

"First Soul Skill, Power of Empty Green!"

Xiao Cheng slowly infused the Power of Empty Green into the spear while closing his eyes and spreading out his senses. The wind—wind that was everywhere—became his eyes and ears.

Though it could not form clear images like sight, within a hundred meters, the airflow stirred by the movement of any sufficiently large creature could not escape his Wind Perception. It was a crude but useful enough warning method.

He advanced carefully, his footsteps light as he made every effort to conceal himself in the shadows of trees and shrubs. The Azure Sky Divine Spear pointed diagonally downward, ready to strike at any moment.

Suddenly!

Wind Perception caught a sharp sound tearing through the air from above and behind him! Its target was his neck!

Here it comes! Xiao Cheng's heart tightened. He neither dodged nor retreated. His feet shifted, and he used a superior movement technique from his previous life—Dragon Roaming Steps. His body slid away like a loach, narrowly evading the attack.

"Whoosh—"

A streak of colorful light grazed his clothes and shot past, smashing into a large tree ahead and exploding into a small cloud of rainbow-colored mist.

Xiao Cheng turned and focused his eyes. His attacker was a strange snake around four meters long, covered entirely in colorful scales. A huge fleshy crest, scarlet as blood, grew from its head, while its tail was fan-shaped. It hovered around three meters above the ground, its icy snake eyes locked firmly onto him.

"A hundred-year Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent!" Xiao Cheng recognized the creature. An old acquaintance from the reference materials. Fast, nonvenomous, but capable of spraying colorful mist to intimidate enemies. Its weak point was the connection beneath its crest.

"Hiss—" Having missed its strike, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent let out an angry hiss. Its tail flicked, and it transformed into another streak of light as it charged again, even faster this time!

"Good!" A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Cheng's eyes. Instead of retreating, he advanced! His Body Martial Soul silently possessed him, and a gentle yet solid feeling of strength surged through his entire body. The muscles in his arms bulged as the Azure Sky Divine Spear swept sideways with unstoppable force, smashing viciously toward the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's head!

"Bang!"

A muffled impact rang out. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent's head was struck solidly, and its entire body flew away like a discarded sack, crashing into another tree trunk and reeling in disorientation.

Xiao Cheng had great confidence in his own strength. Half a year of hellish training, combined with the strength enhancement from his Body Martial Soul, meant that this sweeping strike could warp even refined iron, let alone a snake. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent was fast, but its strength and defense were truly mediocre.

"It's over!"

His body flashed like lightning as he instantly caught up to the still-dazed Soul Beast. The Power of Empty Green flooded the spear tip, and he unleashed a simple straight thrust—Flood Dragon Exits the Sea!

Splat!

The spear tip pierced the scarlet crest with perfect accuracy and went straight into its brain. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent convulsed violently once before going completely still.

Almost the instant it died, a faint, barely visible white glow rose from its corpse. Like fireflies, it drifted toward Xiao Cheng and entered the Azure Sky Divine Spear in his hand.

The azure glow on the spear seemed to brighten slightly, and Xiao Cheng could feel the little fellow inside the spear rejoice for an instant.

"Lueqing, eat more and grow up faster." Xiao Cheng smiled faintly but did not dare linger. The scent of blood was the best summons in a Soul Beast forest. He quickly identified his direction and dashed away from the battlefield.

Over the following period, Xiao Cheng moved through the jungle like an experienced hunter.

He dealt with several more Soul Beasts that had failed to recognize their place—a hundred-year Wind Baboon that tried to pounce from a tree had its waist broken by a strike from his spear shaft;

A pack of ten-year Wind Wolves that tried to overwhelm him with numbers were brought down one by one by Dragon Roaming Steps and precise thrusts;

There was also a hundred-year Electric Mouse hiding in the grass and releasing lightning. He used the Azure Sky Divine Spear as a javelin and threw it, pinning it directly to the ground.

The battles were clean and decisive, thanks to his rich combat awareness and the reach advantage of the Azure Sky Divine Spear.

But the continuous high-intensity fighting had also consumed a considerable amount of his Soul Power. Although the recovery effect of the Dragon Transformation Sutra's autonomous circulation was good, Xiao Cheng's current level was still low, and his endurance was limited.

"I need to find somewhere to rest and recover my Soul Power." Xiao Cheng soon found a concealed tree hollow. He used the spear shaft to widen the interior a little, confirmed there was no danger, then curled up inside and sat cross-legged, beginning to circulate the Dragon Transformation Sutra to recover his Soul Power. At the same time, he devoted part of his attention to keeping watch on his surroundings with Wind Perception.

Yet danger always arrived without a sound.

Just as he had meditated for about a quarter of an hour and his Soul Power had recovered to seventy or eighty percent, every insect chirp and bird call around him vanished at the same time within his Wind Perception!

Dead silence!

A chill shot up his spine and straight to the top of his head!

Xiao Cheng abruptly opened his eyes. Without another word, he sprang up and shot straight out of the tree hollow!

Almost at the instant he left—

Splat!

A pitch-black spider leg covered in hard bristles pierced precisely through the spot where he had just been, like a spear, punching straight through the tree hollow! Wood chips flew everywhere!

Xiao Cheng landed, his pupils contracting sharply. Before he could widen the distance, he saw that white yet incomparably tough spider silk had somehow already been woven between the surrounding trees, trapping him within a small encirclement!

"A Man Faced Demon Spider!" Xiao Cheng sucked in a breath as he turned toward his attacker.

Within the shadows ahead, a grotesque spider with a bloated body, huge abdomen, and a face resembling that of a human stared at him sinisterly with eight compound eyes. A hundred-year Man Faced Demon Spider was known as a Soul Beast killer. Its strength far surpassed others of the same level, and it could even rival an ordinary thousand-year Soul Beast!

"This is troublesome..." Xiao Cheng frowned deeply. The Man Faced Demon Spider was quite formidable in strength, defense, and speed, and it also possessed deadly venom. With his current strength, the enhancements from his Body Martial Soul and the Power of Empty Green might keep his strength and speed from falling behind the Man Faced Demon Spider's, but beyond that, he had few advantages. His chances against this Man Faced Demon Spider were slim.

Fight it head-on? He might get sent out before he even had time to press that red button. He had come here to train, not to throw away his life.

"I can only use Teleportation to get beyond the Man Faced Demon Spider's web barrier, then look for a chance to escape." Xiao Cheng rapidly calculated his tactics. The Power of Empty Green quietly stirred as he prepared to activate spatial Teleportation at any time.

Just then—

A crimson flame streaked through the air like a meteor and slammed fiercely into the spiderweb before Xiao Cheng!

The flame was incredibly hot and carried a scorching, radiant aura. The Man Faced Demon Spider's proud, resilient webbing was like paper before it, instantly blackening, snapping, and turning to ash!

"Little Brother Xiao Cheng, go through this opening!"

A crisp, pleasant voice carrying unquestionable decisiveness entered Xiao Cheng's ears like heavenly music.

Xiao Cheng froze for a moment. That voice... was so familiar! But he did not hesitate in the slightest. The Power of Empty Green erupted beneath his feet, and his body shot through the opening like a ghost.

Freed from the spiderweb's restraints, Xiao Cheng had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a small red figure standing prettily beneath a large tree not far away.

She was a little girl of around seven, dressed in a fitted red outfit that outlined a figure still youthful but already beginning to take shape. Her fiery red hair was especially dazzling beneath the dappled light and shadows.

Her little face was taut, carrying a cold beauty and pride that did not suit her age. Yet when she saw Xiao Cheng emerge safely, a trace of concern still slipped into her brows and eyes.

"Sister Yao Zhu!" Xiao Cheng cried out in delighted surprise. He had never expected Leng Yaozhu to be training in the Spirit Ascension Platform as well, much less for them to meet by such coincidence in this vast place!

Leng Yaozhu lifted her chin slightly and gave a huff, pretending to be arrogant. "You were lucky. I just happened to be passing by. That ugly spider is really annoying."

As she spoke, she raised a small hand. Another ball of blazing fire gathered in her palm, aimed directly at the Man Faced Demon Spider that had watched its prey escape the encirclement it had set and was now hurrying after them.